Cleaner construction



4 Sheets-Sheet l mnmmunmmmm M. L. BLAIR ETMM.

CLEANER CONSTRUCTIQN Mw' 3U, W5@

Filed Dec. 29, 1945 LN Am T mw R mm Aw L C B R um E Mm Why B, R95@ 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Deo. 29, 1945- my 3m W5@ M. L. mmm mm.

CLEANER CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 29, 1945 Mw BUI, W5@ M. l... BLAIR Erm..

CLEANER CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 29, 1945 2 w QQ? g `a( N mf@ L B w l Patented May 30, 1950 Mark (L. Blair, Elossmoor, and Andrew J. Heitzmann,` Chicago, i211., assignors to United Special'- =tes "Company, .Ghicago, fill., a corporation Vof Delaware vApplication December 29, 1945, Serial'Nm .638.330

This invention :relates to an air cleaner and :particularly to a ibaffle construction `for :use Yin 'an oil bath-or 'liquid' vtype cleaner.

itt has. for onezobject to provide means 4for l.clirenting the aow .of iliquid through the cleaner in lo. manner which will produce :effective `elearning andfforfpreventing oil pull over `and for accomplishing `oil retention.

Another object is provide a=ba1e construction Soarranged fas 'to provincia substantial :and VVsudden expansion in thefstreaxn of airwhichfmoves through the cleaner and hence to improve oleanmg.

IAnother objectis to provide meansorvdirecting `the to'and withingthe lter masszso assto ac- :Vcomplish the most efcient cleaning.

@ther objects `will 'appear :from time vto time in the course :of the specification fand claims.

The vinvention is Iillustratedmoreor less ldia- :grammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure y1 is-a-siderelevationwith parts in section showing one form vof :cleaner to which the loaiiie of the present 'invention lmay `loe l applied;

Eigure 2riszazsection taken at -line -2-2 lof Figure 1';

Figure 3 visfa plan view-of the :bale fseen from its under :side:

Eigure i is ea View :similar to `Figure Y1 with `parts :omitted and illustrating a `modified ,form loi the fdevioe;

Figure f5 is a bottom plan `view .of the xdevice `shown @in Figure er; `and Figures 6-and 'Z are-'similar to Figure 4 andiilw'lustraate further :modied @forms.

Like iparts :are `imiicairzci :by hire symbols throughoutthespecicationandzdravvinga lIn the "particu-lar iorm :here :shown the rinvention 'is applied to lan :air Jcleaner `having .an `:outside annular inlet and a central rdownward .discharge tube. 'Ilhe invention however is not limited to this particular association 4and `might be Aapplied to other ftypes of cleaners. The cleaner yshown wvill :be .described only sumcientlgy zto indicate `the .use and :applicationof the @resent inivention. `As shown the h:cleaner comprises two main sections, fthe iter rsection nand fan :oil our) section. The rnlter .section comprises Lan inner more orilessxtnbularrmember nl .and non @liter fannuiarrmemter These nnenhers l:are .ticinesi fat 5 Claims. (Cl. 18S-F150 their lower ends by parts .which extenelbetwteen them. These `include arms 3. 'The :arms :.are preferably yrelatively narrowlas shown in :Figure 2 and .provide substantial `clear 'spacel through which upwardly moving Aair or gas may pass.

-8 "is `positioned on :the upper end of -thexrnember .15.

:I and seouredto vthe :member and extends partly `over the space dennen "netween the members vI yand 12. Aspi'cier 19 maybesecured :to or made in tegrally with the memberu.

A `screen lit` is `positioned adjacent the ruppe? .end of :the `space "defined between `the -rmcmbers l zand 'l1-and serves tofretainfa, filter mass M. The filter ina-ss iis retainedfandsupported at :its lower 4vond 'hy a fscreen t2.

rit the flower portion of `the flter fmass a "barile Vis provided. As shown this baile includes a relatively horizontal portion 553, iperforateg- `as at "13a, and aniupwardly and outwardlybent portion H. `The portion lf3 may `loe curi/ed, `as at 15, :if `desired.,rtovprovide an'engaging space for a bafe.

--ma-y have, 'a downwardly `turned a-.nge `IFI. `At its 'inner ,edgethe hottie is perfonated andgis -profvdedrwthra :curved portion .t-B wniohts against 4:8 and il Spare joined b yerms 2|).

und corresponds in shape to the :shape :of the lcurved. portion t5. lrll'ie `baiiie is provided with downwardlyfiiirecterivmembers #i9 and thezportions The xlower or .liquid containing portion .of the `'cleaner includes .an annular .cup-like member :having ya .bottom `2a and `an inner ,side Eiland an outer side =23. An annular `air inlet is provided,

as at "between the members 3 and 23. A

bridge' 215 positioned lin the :por-tion@ Y,andearries a central threaded @portion 26. .,Anattaching screw 21 is adapted to be receivedend engagedin an upwardly standing inlet pipe 29 which fits within and may contact the housing portion l.

Within the space defined between the members I and 2 and the screens II) and I2 is a filter mass I I which may be of metal wool or synthetic or vegetable or animal fibers.

In the modified form of the device as shown in Figures 4 and 5 the structure is the same as that described with one exception. The baille in the lower portion of the filter section extends substantially upwardly without any horizontal portion. Thus instead of the horizontal portion I3 and the upwardly extending portion I4 there is provided an upwardly and outwardly directed portion 3I. Perforations 32 may or may not be provided as shown in Figure 4 and, if desired, corresponding perforations might be shown in the form of the earlier figures.

The modified form of Figure 6 is generally similar to that illustrated in Figure 4, except that instead of the member 3 I, which is formed as shown in Figure 4, integrally with the portion I5, the cleaner housing section 2 is provided with the flat portion 33 which includes an upwardly curved portion 34, which is itself secured by welding or otherwise to the member I.

The member 33 is provided with a number of openings 35 and with a number of perforations 36. A cup-like member 3l is secured to the mem-ber 33 and is perforated, as at 38. These perforations register with the perforations 36. The form of Figure 6 therefore differs from the form of Figure mainly by the fact that the walls of the cup-like member 31 are vertical instead of being inclined, as is the wall 3i of Figure 4.

In the modified form of Figure rI the member 2 is provided with an upwardly directed. portion 39 which is cut out to provide openings lill and legs 4I. Integral with the member 39 is a flat imperforate portion 42 provided with a downwardly r depending flange 43 which is fixed to the tubular member I. A screen section 44 extends from the portion 39 to the portion 2.

The invention is not limited to the particular details by means of which the Various structural parts are fastened together. In the several Figures l, 4, 6 and 7 a tubulanmember I is provided with an upwardly directed annular member 45 which engages the baille portions and portions of the assembly generally. Thus as shown in Figure 1 the member 45 engages a downwardly bent portion of the member i3. The same is true in the structure of Figure 4. In Figure 6 the member 45 engages a downwardly bent portion of the baffle I8, which is the same as the baille shown in Figures l and 4. The same construction in respect to this detail appears in Figure '7. 'I'he tubular member I, as shown in Figure '7, may be provided with an outwardly extending bead IiiV which serves to space and position the baille I8 and the flange 43 of the member 42.

It will be realized that whereas we have described and illustrated a practical and operative device, nevertheless many changes may be made in the size, shape, number and disposition of parts without departing from the spirit of our invention. We therefore wish our description and drawings to be taken as in a broad sense illustrative or diagrammatic, rather than as limiting us to our precise showing.

The use and operation of the invention are as follows:

Experience has shown that air passing through a cleaner of the general type shown will tend to rise toward the center of the cleaner and that the outer or peripheral portions of the filter mass will be used less than the inner or central portions. This produces irregular and unsatisfactory cleaning and produces an irregular and relatively uncontrolled ilow of air through the cleaner. The baille I4 or the baille 3I controls this flow of air by forcing the air as it rises from the oil cup to move toward the outer portion of the filter mass.

Another advantage occurs from this construction, however. As the air moves upwardly through the relatively restricted space defined by the inner upper edge of the baille I4 or 3| and the inner edge of the curved portion 4, it moves through a somewhat restricted path. As soon as the air has passed the upper edge of the baille I4 or 3l its path is greatly enlarged and hence its velocity is greatly reduced.

Thus the tendency of the air to drop foreign matter and oil which it has carried thus far is greatly augmented by the presence of bailles such as the bailles I4 and 3I. Experience with the device of this invention has shown that a large portion of the foreign matter` and oil carried by the air is dropped in this general acne of expansion as the air passes slightly beyond the upper edge of the baille I4 or 3I. The liquid tends to drain backwardly down through the filter mass and on the inner side of the baille I4 or 3I.

Openings are provided in these bailles through which oil may drain backwardly into the cup. These openings are provided in line with the arms which extend transversely across the baille structure such as the arms 3, and there will be one opening in the baffle for each arm. If desired, additional openings may be provided Aas shown particularly in Figures 4 and 5.

We claim:

l. In an air cleaner, inner and outer casing members defining a substantially annular filter housing open at its opposite ends, a quantity of filter material positioned between said members within said housing, a cover for said cleaner, means defining an air outlet passage for said cleaner, a third casing member defining with said cuter casing member an annular air inlet passage to the cleaner surrounding said annular housing and a liquid cup disposed in spaced relation to and beneath said housing, said third casing member, said liquid cup, said inner and outer casing members, and said cover member cooperating to define a continuous air .flow passage leading from said intake `passage to said outlet passage and including a portion through which the air flows upwardly through said filter material, and a fixed baille member carried by said housing and extending outwardly and upwardly from said inner casing member at a point above the level of liquid in said cup and including an annular portion disposed in the path of incoming air and engaging the filter material intermediate said inner and outer casing members to direct the upwardly flowing air through that portion of the filter material lying between the point of engagement of said baille with said filter material and said outer casing member.

2. The air cleaner described in claim l wherein a second baille member separate from said iirst baille member is provided, said second baille member being disposed within said cup, and in spaced relation to said first-mentioned baille member.

3. The air cleaner described in claim 2 wherein means are provided for removably mounting said second baille member within said cup.

4. The air cleaner described in claim'l wherein said annular portion of said baille member pene- 2,509,802 5 6 trates into the body oi lter material to substan- REFERENCES CITED tially mask off that portion of the lter material The following references are of recmd in the lying above the baie member and adjacent to fue of this patent. said inner casing member.

5. The air cleaner described in claim 1 wherein 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS said baiie member, intermediate its outer perph- Number Name Date ery and said inner casing member. is provided 2,015,174 Anglemyer Sept. 24, 1935 with perforations communicating with the ltel 2,150,745 Mieras Mar. 14, 1939 material lying thereabove and adjacent to said 2,168,670 Evans Aug. 8, 1939 inner casing member. 1o 2,171,752 K-amrath Sept. 5, 1939 MARK L. BLAIR. 2,240,042 Kelsey et al. Apr. 29, 1941 ANDREW J. I-IEITZMANN. 2,287,806 Kamrath June 30, 1942 2,304,829 Kamrath Dec, 15, 1942 2,341,771 Hogar Feb. 15, 1944 

